The Government was yesterday urged to eliminate the 48 hour in-country COVID testing requirement for all tourists and make The Bahamas “more competitive” for the peak winter season.
Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, told Tribune Business that the decline in Omicron-fuelled infections means this nation must give “serious consideration” as to which parts of its COVID-testing regime can be “safely eliminated” so that a “strong pace” in visitor bookings can be maintained throughout 2022.
Emphasising that he was not suggesting The Bahamas be “cavalier” when it came to visitor safety, he argued that it nevertheless must focus on removing all “impediments and obstacles” to travel to the greatest extent possible given tourism’s pivotal role in the country’s post-COVID economy.
